Water sampling apparatus

ABSTRACT

WATER SAMPLING APPARATUS INCLUDES A STANDARD NANSEN BOTTLE TO WHICH IS CLAMPED A MOUNTING BLOCK WHICH SWIVELINGLY SUPPORTS A SUPPORT BAR, TRANSVERSELY BORED TO GUIDE A SLIDE ROD. A SLIDE ROD, SLIDABLY DISPOSED IN THE BORE OF THE SUPPORT BAR, IS ATTACHED TO THE UPPER VALVE LEVER OF THE NANSEN BOTTLE. A CONNECTING ROD CONVENTIONALLY CONNECTS THE UPPER AND LOWER VALVE LEVERS SO THAT THE VALVES CLOSE TOGETHER. THE SLIDE ROD IS URGED DOWNWARD BY SEVERAL ELASTIC BANDS, BUT IS PREVENTED FROM DOWNWARD MOVEMENT BY A PIVOTED LATCH WHICH ENGAGES A PIN PROJECTING FROM THE SLIDE ROD. THE LATCH IS, IN TURN, URGED TO UNLATCHING POSITION BY ITS OWN ELASTIC BANDS, BUT IS RESTAINED IN LATCHING POSITION BY A LOW WATTAGE RESISTOR. WHEN THE APPARATUS HAS BEEN LOWERED TO THE PROPER DEPTH IN THE SEA, A HIGH VOLTAGE CAN BE DELIVERED TO THE RESISTOR THROUGH APPROPRIATE CIRCUITRY TO BREAK THE RESISTOR AND PERMIT THE LATCH TO MOVE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ITS ELASTIC BANDS OUT OF LATCHING POSITION AND RELEAST THE SLIDE ROD TO MOVE DOWNWARD UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ITS ELASTIC BANDS. DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF THE SLIDE ROD CLOSES BOTH TOP AND BOTTOM VALVES OF THE NANSEN BOTTLE, AND THE WATER SAMPLE IS TRAPPED.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 30, 1970 INVENTOR MICHAEL L. GREENE Dec. 7, 1971 M. GREENE WATER SAMPLING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 50, 1970 ATTORNEY Dec. 7, 397i M. L. GREENE 3,625,056

WATER SAMPLING APPARATUS Filed March 30, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fi 4 INVENTOR lso MICHAEL L. GREENE BY $4 5M United States Patent O 3,625,066 WATER SAMPLING APPARATUS Michael L. Greene, Hillcrest Heights, Md., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Mar. 30, 1970, Ser. No. 23,641 Int. Cl. G01n 1/10 US. Cl. 73-425.4 R 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Water sampling apparatus includes a standard Nansen bottle to which is clamped a mounting block which swivelingly supports a support bar, transversely bored to guide a slide rod. A slide rod, slidably disposed in the bore of the support bar, is attached to the upper valve lever of the Nansen bottle. A connecting rod conventionally connects the upper and lower valve levers so that the valves close together. The slide rod is urged downward by several elastic bands, but is prevented from downward movement by a pivoted latch which engages a pin projecting from the slide rod. The latch is, in turn, urged to unlatching position by its own elastic bands, but is restrained in latching position by a low wattage resistor. When the apparatus has been lowered to the proper depth in the sea, a high voltage can be delivered to the resistor through appropriate circuitry to break the resistor and permit the latch to move under the influence of its elastic bands out of latching position and release the slide rod to move downward under the influence of its elastic bands. Downward movement of the slide rod closes both top and bottom valves of the Nansen bottle, and the water sample is trapped.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to devices for trapping and recovering samples of liquid from various depths in a body of the liquid, and more particularly, to improved apparatus for modifying existing equipment to greatly speed, simplify and improve the task of recovering samples of sea water from a series of depths from the ocean.

The practice of the science of oceanography often requires the collection of samples of sea water from various depths of the ocean. These samples are then returned to the surface and analyzed for the various substances that they contain such as minerals, microscopic animal and plant life, gaseous content, and so forth.

Since 1611 when the first sea water sampling bottle was first invented by Hooke, various water sampling bottles have been invented and tested by oceanographic workers in the field. The water sampling bottle most widely used at this time is a modification of one developed in the latter part of the 19th century by the Norwegian Arctic explorer and oceanographer Fridtjof Nansen, and now known as the Nansen bottle. Because of its sturdy construction and many years of reliable performance the Nansen bottle has won wide acceptance with, and is very extensively used by oceanographic workers in the field. Consequently, there is an immense inventory of Nansen bottles in existence, and the directors of the various institutions are very reluctant to discard a tool of proven value, forfeit the considerable 3,625,066 Patented Dec. 7, 1971 ice capital investment represented thereby, and bear the considerable cost required to replace the Nansen bottles with improved models. As a result, despite various improvements in the art, the Nansen bottle continues to be widely used in the field, and the apparent advantages offered by these more recent developments have not inured to the benefit of the art.

While the Nansen bottle has proven itself a rugged and reliable tool, its use is not entirely free of disadvantages. For example, a Nansen cast is a long and tedious process. The bottle must be fastened to the cable at intervals and lowered slowly into the ocean. When all the bottles have been attached to the cable and the cable loweredto the proper depth, a brass messenger is released to slide down the wire. When it strikes the first Nansen bottle it causes the valves to close and releases a second messenger which is releasably suspended from the first bottle. The second messenger slides down the wire until it strikes the second bottle, causing its valves to close and releasing a third messenger to repeat the process until the valves on all the bottles have been closed. Depending on the depth to which the cable is lowered this process may take several hours. Moreover, if the cable is not lowered properly, one of the messengers may be prematurely released which will trip all the lower bottles. Then if the cable is lowered further, the great pressure of the ocean depths may crush the bottles.

If concurrent data as to salinity, temperature, and depth is desired while the samples are being collected it is necessary to lower a sensor package known as an STD fish alongside the Nansen bottle cable. The STD fish, also a common item of inventory among oceanographic institutions, is a group of sensors and related telemetering apparatus held in a metal pipe cage of approximately 3 feet in diameter by approximately 6 feet in height. The top of the cage is connected to a cable by means of which the data is continuously telemetered back to the surface ship. The STD fish cable must remain separated from the Nansen bottle cable to avoid fouling the two cables.

It has for some time been the wish of oceanographic institutions to improve the somewhat awkward existing procedures for collecting water samples and take advantage of the improvements offered by recent developments in the art without the necessity for discarding the considerable inventory existing today and thereby avoid the capital loss which would be incurred thereby.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for collecting samples of sea water from various depths of the ocean in which the sample may be trapped upon a signal from a surface vessel.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a water sample collecting apparatus in which the ambient environment at various depths of the ocean is continuously monitored and in which samples may be trapped from any depth as desired.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved water sample collection apparatus which employs equipment in the existing inventories of oceanographic institutions, which continuously monitors and relays to the surface various parameters of the deep sea environment and which permits the trapping of a water sample from various depths on command from an operator on the surface.

Briefly in accordance with one embodiment of this invention these and other objects are attained by providing special racks for the STD fish to which the Nansen bottles are fastened using a set of existing brackets attached to the bottles. A slide rod is connected to the top valve lever of the Nansen bottle and is biased downward by strong elastic bands, but is restrained in its uppermost position by a latch. The latch is biased to open by its own elastic bands but is restrained in latching position by a low wattage resistor. Through appropriate leads, a high voltage pulse may be delivered to the resistor to break it thus release the latch to be opened by its elastic bands. The slide rod is thus released to move under the influence of its elastic bands to close the bottle valves.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete appreciation of the invention and its many attendant advantages will develop as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the invention shown clamped to a Nansen bottle;

FIG. 2 shows a side elevation of the invention attached to a Nansen bottle which in turn is attached to the STD fish mounting brackets;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along lines 33 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevation, partly in section, of a voltage pulse delivery mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of another embodiment of a voltage pulse delivery mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, one embodiment of a water sampling apparatus according to the present invention is shown. The invention employes a conventional Nansen bottle 12, which is a cylindrical metal container with a 1.25 liter capacity. It is fitted with a tapered plug valve at either end, both of which are open to provide that the bottle flushes itself as it is lowered into the ocean. In the use for which it was originally designed, both valves were connected to levers, the lower of which was attached to a cable connecting bracket securely clamped to the cable. The top lever was connected to the cable but could be disconnected therefrom by a messenger which was slid down the cable. When disconnected at the top, the bottle swung out away from the cable in approximately a 180 C. are about the lower connector to the cable. The lower lever swung with the bottle through 90 but was then stopped by a dog on the lower connecting bracket and the continued swing of the bottle through the remaining 80- 90 was effective to rotate the lower level 8090 with respect to the bottle, which rotated the valve 8090 in its valve seat. By means of a rod connecting the upper and lower valve levers, the top valve was rotated when the bottom valve rotated. The valves were thus closed and the bottle was sealed.

As used in this invention, the Nansen bottle has secured thereto, by means of a pair of hose clamps 14, a mounting block having an arcuate inner face which abutts against the outer cylindrical surface of the Nansen bottle 12. A projecting stud 16 is integrally formed on mounting block 10 and projects outwardly therefrom. A transverse hole 18 is formed through projected stud 16 and swivelingly holds a support bar 20 having a square cross-section for all but a short portion 22 adjacent the inner end 23 thereof. Portion 22 is formed with a circular cross-section which fits with a close clearance within hole 18. A machine screw 26 is screwed into a threaded bore 24 formed axially in end 23 of bar 20 and holds a washer 28, having a diameter somewhat larger than the diameter of hole 18, to end 23 of bar 20 to prevent axial movement thereof out of hole 18. This arrangement provides cantilever support for bar 20 while permitting free swiveling thereof about its axis in hole 18 for a purpose to be explained later.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, a vertical bore 30 is formed through support bar 20- and slideably receives a slide rod 32. A pair of holes 34 are formed in the side of support bar 20 perpendicular to and intersecting bore 30 to provide bearing surfaces for pivot pegs about which a latch 36 swivels. Latch 36, best seen in FIG. 1, is formed of a pair of parallel L-shaped members 35, each having a base 40 and a leg 39. L-shaped members 35 are connected at the top of leg 39 by a connecting cross member 38. Each base '40 has formed therein a notch 42 beveled on the lower outer corner at 44. At the bend of each L-shaped member 35 a threaded hole 46 is formed, best seen in FIG. 3, which threadedly receives a screw 48 having a small peg 50 formed on the inner end thereof. When screw 48 is fully threaded into hole 46, peg 50 projects beyond the inner surface of L-shaped member 35 and extends into hole 34 of support bar 20- and forms a pivot about which latch .36 swivels. The notch 42 of latch 36, illustrated in FIG. 1, in its latching position encloses a pin 52 rigidly secured by a force fit in a hole through slide rod 32 and prevents downward movement thereof. When latch 36 swivels counter-clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1, pin 52 is free of notch 42 and slide rod 32 is free to slide downwardly. A second pin 54, also rigidly secured to slide rod 32 just below pin 52, has looped therearound the ends of a stretched elastic band 56. The middle of elastic band 56 is stretched around and held in a notch 62 formed on the lower inwardly bent end 60 of an S-shaped purchase bar 58 which is secured to the outer end 63 of support bar 20. Stretched elastic band 56 provides the energy to move slide rod 32 downwardly when latch 36 swivels counter-clockwise to free pin 52. from notch 42.

S-shaped purchase bar 58 has formed on the upper end thereof an outwardly bent portion 68, having formed on the top surface thereof a notch 70. Aligned immediately below notch 70, a pin 64 is secured to the connecting cross-member 38 and has looped therearound the ends of an elastic band 66, the middle of which is stretched over and lies in notch 70. As best seen in FIG. 1, latch 36 is urged by elastic band 66 to rotate counterclockwise about pegs 50, but is restrained from so rotating by a low wattage electrical resistor 72, one lead 74 of which is connected to latch 36 by means of a wing nut 76 threaded to a machine screw 78 secured to cross-member 38, and the other lead 74 of which is connected to a terminal post 80 which extends out of a terminal block 82 secured to purchase bar '58 by machine screws 84. A high voltage line 88 is connected to terminal block 82 and thence to terminal post 80 by means of an electrical connector 86.

In partial explanation of the operation of the device as disclosed thus far, when resistor 72 is broken by a high power electrical impulse delivered through cable 88, elastic bands 66 are effective to rotate latch 36 counterclockwise and thus free the pins 52 from notches 42, thereby allowing slide rod 32 to slide downwardly under the influ ence of stretched elastic bands 56.

The upper end of slide rod 32, best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, is formed into a flat bar 90, and a hole 91 is formed laterally therethrough. Flat bar portion is bracketed by the two arms of a clevis 92 which is conventionall attached to a valve lever 93 of the Nansen bottle. A pin 94 extends through a pair of holes in the clevis arms and through hole 91 in fiat bar 90 to hold slide rod 32 securely to the Nansen bottle valve actuated mechanism. A cam 96 which forms part of the conventional wire release mechanism, for the bottle as heretofore used and to which the pin 94 is attached, is wired to slide rod 32 by means of a safety wire 98 to prevent the undesired pivoting of wire release cam member 96 from withdrawing pin 94 from clevis 92 and releasing slide rod 32.

Looking at FIG. 2, the reason for the swivel connec tion of support bar 20 in hole 18 of stud 16 now becomes apparent. As slide rod 32 moves downwardly it rotates valve lever 93 down around the top valve, thus causing the top 90 of slide rod 32 to describe an arc as it moves downwardly. Since the radial distance of bore 30 from the bottle remains fixed, the angle that rod 32 makes with the bottle changes as the rod descends. This cant of rod 32 would cause it to bind in bore 30 were it not for the swiveling support of bar 20. Since bar 20 can swivel freely about its axis, the axis of bore 30 can follow and remain coincident with the axis of rod 32 as it cants with respect to the bottle. The free movement of rod 32 through bore 30 is thus assured.

The free sliding of rod 32 in bore 30 is further insured by the mounting of purchase bar 58 on the end 63 of support bar 20. As rod 32 cants with respect to the bottle, bar '20 swivels with it and purchase bar '58 thereby necessarily remains parallel to rod 32, thus assuring that the force exerted by elastic band 156 will remain exactly axial to rod 32. There can, therefore, be no tendency whatever for rod 32 to skew or bind in bore 30.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the Nansen bottle conventionally includes a top bracket 102, a middle bracket 103, and a lower bracket 100. The top and middle brackets 102 and 103 have formed respectivel therethrough a threaded aperture 109 and a smooth walled aperture 111. A pin 104, biased downwardly by a spring 108 and having a threaded upper end 106 and an enlarged diameter lower portion 107 extends through and is held in apertures 109 and 111. A pair of hemispherical knobs 101, only one of which appears in FIG. 2 since they are aligned in this view are formed on the top surface of lower bracket 100'. The original purpose of brackets 100, 102 and 103 and pin 104 was to hold a deep sea reversing thermometer. However, this structure in the present invention is used to hold the Nansen bottle to the STD fish. This is accomplished by clamping pair of racks 110 and 112 to the STD fish by screws or other convenient means. The top rack 110 has formed therethrough a bore 114 of a diameter slightly larger than enlarged diameter portion 107 of pin 104, and the bottom rack 112 has a pair of bores 116 formed therethrough of a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of hemispherical knobs 101.

To secure the Nansen bottle to the rack, the bottle is placed with the top surface of lower bracket 100 abutting against the under surface of bottom rack 1 12 and with hemispherical knobs 101 extending into apertures 116. Pin 104 is then lifted against the action of spring 108 and the large diameter portion 107 is aligned with and fitted into aperture 114 of rack 110. The threaded portion 106 of pin 104 is then threadedly connected with the threaded aperture 109 of top bracket 102. The Nansen bottle is now securely fastened to racks .110 and 112 of the STD fish. In the embodiment tested, a group of twelve bottles were fitted to the hexagonal STD fish, two to a side.

Looking now at FIG. 4, a device'is shown which delivers the necessary high power electrical pulse to resistor 72 on command from the surface. A rotor 118 is rigidly mounted on a hollow shaft 120 which in turn is journaled in bearings 122 fixed in a base 124 attached to the STD fish. A torsion spring 125 coiled coaxially around hollow shaft 120 urges the shaft 120 and rotor 118 in clockwise rotation as seen from the top. An electrical contact button 126 is fixed to the outer underside of rotor 118 and a series of contact buttons 128 are angularly spaced around a circular are on base 124 centered at shaft 120 and of a radius equal to the radial distance of button .126 from shaft 120. As rotor 118 rotates, button 126 thus sequentially makes contact with buttons 128. The number of buttons 128 may be as many as there are Nansen bottles and in the embodiment tested there were 12 buttons. Radially aligned with button 126, a small solenoid 130 is mounted rigidly on the top of rotor 118 directly over an aperture 134 formed therethrough. A series of apertures 136, one for each contact button 128, having beveled surfaces 138 on the clockwise upstream side, are formed in base 124 around an arc over which aperture 134 passes as rotor 11-8 rotates. A plunger 132 mounted coaxially within solenoid 130 and biased downwardly by a spring 131, is slideably received in aperture 134 and normally extends therethrough and into an aperture 136. When plunger 132 is thus disposed, rotation of rotor 118 is prevented. When a current pulse is delivered to solenoid 130 suflicient to lift plunger 132 out of aperture 136, spring will act to rotate rotor 118 clockwise. When the current in solenoid decreases, as it does very quickly, the plunger is released to be returned downwardly by spring 131 and travels around the surface of base 124 until it drops into the next aperture 136 that is encountered. The rotor is there stopped, and the next con tact button 128 is in contact with button 126.

The current pulse is delivered by a battery 148 connected in parallel with a large value capacitor 150, both of which are connected in series with an electronic AND gate 152 which could also be a simple relay. An electrical conductor 154 extends down from the ship on the surface and is connected to AND gate 152. An electrical conductor 156 is connected to AND gate 152, passes up through the hollow bore of shaft 120, and is connected in parallel to solenoid .130 and button 126.

In operation, the battery 148 of the current pulse delivery mechanism fully charges capacitor 150. A signal from the ship on the surface down conductor 15'4 etfects the discharge of capacitor 150 through the AND gate 152 along conductor 156 to solenoid 130- and button 126. The current pulse is delivered through button 126 and button 128 which is in contact therewith to resistor 72 which blows the resistor to cause one of the Nansen bottles to drop a water sample as previously described. At the same time, solenoid 130 is energized to lift solenoid plunger 132 out of aperture 136 which frees rotor 118 to move clockwise under the influence of torsion spring 125. he short current pulse is effective to lift plunger 132 for just a moment, and it immediately thereafter moves downwardly again under the influence of spring 131 and drops into the next aperture 136 encountered around base 124. Contact button 126 is at that point in contact with the next contact button 128 to which is connected the next resistor 72 of the next Nansen bottle. In this way, a relatively small electrical signal from the surface is effective to release a high energy current pulse which assures the breakage of resistor 72 and the closing of the valves of the Nansen bottle.

Another embodiment of this device as shown in FIG. 5 which shows the solenoid 130 mounted within the bore 140 of hollow shaft 120. The solenoid plunger 132 is connected to one end of a lever 142, the other end of which is connected to a pin 146 which fulfills the same function as the solenoid plunger in the embodiment of FIG. 4. When a current pulse is delivered to solenoid 130, plunger 132 is pulled downwardly which causes lever 142 to pivot about a fulcrum post 144 and lift pin 146 to permit spring 125 to rotate rotor 118. Spring 131 then lifts plunger 132 and pin 146 drops into the next aperture 136 encountered.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Water sampling apparatus comprising:

a conventional Nansen bottle having a pair of opposed ports formed therein and valves associated therewith for ingress and egress of water into and out of said bottle;

shiftable actuating means connected to said valves for changing the position thereof;

motive means connected to said actuating means for exerting a force thereon to shift said actuating means and thereby close said valves;

shiftable latch means for releasably holding said actuating means against the urging of said motive means;

means for biasing said latch means to release said actuating means;

7 electrical release means for releasing said latch in response to an electrical signal to permit said latch biasing means to shift said latch and release said actuating means for movement under the influence of said motive means to close said valves; all said means being located outside said bottle. 2. The water sampling apparatus defined in claim, 1, wherein said actuating means comprises:

a mount attached to said bottle; a rod support means swivelingly connected to said mount and having a bore formed therethrough; and a rod slidably held coaxially in said bore and connected at the upper end thereof to one of said valves; whereby binding of said rod in said bore is precluded by the ability of said rod support means to swivel and allow the axis of said bore to remain coincident with the axis of said rod. 3. The water sampling apparatus defined in claim 2, wherein said motive means comprises:

a purchase bar mounted on said rod support means;

and an elastic band connected to and stretched between said purchase bar and the lower end of said rod; whereby said purchase bar can swivel with said rod support means to provide that the force exerted by said elastic band will remain axial with respect to said rod. 4. The water sampling apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein:

said actuating means comprises a rod attached at one end thereof to one of said valves, and having a pin fixed to the other end thereof; said motive means comprises a purchase bar attached to said bottle, and an elastic band connected to and stretched between said other end of said rod and said purchase bar; and

said latch means comprises a latch swivelingly mounted on said bottle and having a notch formed thereon to engage and hold said pin and thereby to hold said rod from movement under the influence of said elastic band.

5. The water sampling apparatus defined in claim 4,

wherein:

said latch biasing means comprises a pin connected to and projecting from said latch, and an elastic band connected to and stretched between said latch pin and another portion of said purchase bar; and

said electrical release means comprises a low wattage electrical resistor, one lead of which is connected to said latch and the other lead of which is connected to said purchase bar,

whereby the delivery of a high current pulse to said resistor will break said resistor and allow said latch biasing elastic band to swivel said latch and disengage said notch from said rod pin to free said rod for movement under the influence of said rod elastic band.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,489,012 1/1970 Niskin 73425.4 R 3,537,316 11/1970 Stewart 73-425.4 R X 3,339,417 9/1967 Richard 73425.4 R

LOUIS R. PRINCE, .Primary Examiner W. A. HENRY II, Assistant Examiner 

